The Way Life Could Have Been
by outlaw96
Summary: The Flock is living a peaceful life and nothing interesting has happened ever since Jeb disappeared. But, Iggy meets a new girl and life becomes complicated. Will the Flock accept her, or drive her out? Can she be trusted? IggyxOC, Fax.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Heyo! This is my first ever fic! My favorite character from MR is Iggy, so I thought that I should start out my fanfic career with him. This might start out slow and kind of boring for you, but I'll try to make it pick up. If you have any suggestions for the plot, future chapters, or if you just want to comment or flame me, I welcome it all (well, I don't know if I really **_**welcome**_** flames)! Anyway, on to the chapter.**

**(((outlaw96 does NOT own Maximum Ride!)))**

"Jeff, please take off your sunglasses. They're against dress code."

I sighed and folded my aviators, laying them on the desk. The teacher continued to talk to us about the history of some dead people in Europe, and I closed my eyes. I thought of Max, Fang, and Nudge, all going to Birch County High. Max and Fang were both juniors there, and Nudge was a freshman. They were all relatively normal, at a relatively normal school. The Gasman was going to Birch County Middle School, and little Angel was at Foreman Elementary. I, however, was at Lakeview School for the Disabled.

"Jeff, are you awake? You should be paying attention, this will be on your next quiz," my teacher, Ms. West, chided. She was pretty young, fresh out of college, but she taught us well and treated us fairly.

I sighed again and opened my eyes. I tried listening, but I just couldn't pay attention to the lesson. I put my hand down next to me and Lizzie, my seeing-eye border collie, pushed her head into my hand and I scratched her ears.

I felt my watch; it was almost two-thirty. Ms. West reminded us of our homework, then the bell rang and Ms. West told us we were dismissed. I gathered my stuff and put on my sunglasses.

"Wait, Jeff. Could I talk to you?" I heard Ms. West come up behind me, her shoes clicking on the tile, and I turned toward her.

"Yes, Ms. West?" I tilted my head down so I was looking where her face should be. I towered over her, and just about everyone else. I was only seventeen, but I was already six foot six.

"Your books finally came in, and there's a lot. You might need help carrying them."

My eyebrows rose slightly. I was a bit excited to have something new to read, even if they were mostly just textbooks. I was the school's first blind student in a really long time, so all the Braille books they had were outdated. Believe it or not, I, Iggy, actually liked school now. Actual school, not _the_ School.

Ms. West led me to the pile that was stacked on her desk. I ran my hand over the stack and let out a whistle. "That's a lot of dead trees."

Ms. West let out a laugh, "That's one way to put it."

"Could I come by a little later with some friends to help me?" I asked.

"Sure, sure. I'll be here a while, I have a lot of grading to do."

I said goodbye to her, and let Lizzie lead me out of the small school. I walked to Birch County High and met Angel there. Her school had just let out and she was waiting on the bench I usually occupied while waiting for everyone.

"Hey, Iggy!" she called out as I approached her

"Hey, kiddo. How was school?"

"It was great, we played tag at recess and I was never caught!" She bounced up and down excitedly as I sat down next to her. "Hello, Lizzie! I missed you today!" Lizzie panted happily while Angel played with her.

"Hey Ange. Hey Ig," I heard the Gasman walk up to us.

"Hey Gazzy. How was your day?" I asked.

Angel suddenly giggled. I turned my head to her and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Gazzy got a girlfriend!" She started to chant. "Aww, he's blushing!"

"Angel! Shut it!" Gazzy sounded embarrassed. "She's not my girlfriend, she's just a friend."

"A friend that you like, and who likes you."

"I told you, we're just friends!"

Angel gasped suddenly, "She gave you her number?"

"Angel! Stop reading my mind!" Gazzy begged.

I smirked at the exchange going on. The Gasman always hated it when his little sister read his mind. Yes, she can read minds. She's a pretty unique kid.

"I'm smiling at you, Iggy," she informed me. I grinned back at her and patted her on the head. She pushed my hand away, a little disgruntled.

"Aww, come on Angel," I said, "you're acting like a tween now? Man, I remember when you were just a baby!"

I heard her stick her tongue out and do that thing where you blow air and it makes a farting noise. What was that called, anyway? I mentally shrugged.

The bell rang and I heard a stampede of teenagers bang open the front doors. Angel, Gazzy, and I waited for the rest of our flock to join us. We waited a while, but they didn't come over to us.

"There's Nudge over there," Gazzy said. He walked over to where he saw her and I got up and followed him. Angel walked with me, one hand on Lizzie.

We must have approached a swarm of freshmen girls, because I heard a lot of chattering. When we got close they noticed us and they swarmed Lizzie, petting her and giving her lots of attention.

"Oh, hey guys!" Nudge greeted us. "These are my friends. Sorry I didn't go right over to you, they were giving me some _super_ juicy gossip. It was sooo good, I couldn't walk away! So, what happened was mggrh-."

I had covered her mouth with my hand before she got too far, "Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?" I asked her. I felt her nod and I took my hand away.

The girls around us had lost interest in Lizzie and were now whispering among each other.

"…he's cute…"

"…is he single…"

"…is Nudge with him…"

"…what grade is he in…"

"Oh yeah so everyone," Nudge announced, "this is Iggy. You've already met Angel and Gazzy."

"Are you single?" One of the girls blurted out, then abruptly gasped and slapped her hands over her mouth.

I turned my head toward her and just gave a crooked smirk. I think I heard her swoon, or something. Am I really that good-looking? Huh.

I heard two sets of feet coming toward us. One sounded confident and tough, while the other was almost silent. I turned to them, "Hey guys. I need some help carrying some books, they're over at my school."

"Sure thing, Iggy," Max responded, "We'll all help."

The six of us, plus Lizzie, walked away from the high school. I could've sworn I heard that girl say, "He looked at me!"

We walked down the sidewalk two-by-two, me and Angel (and Lizzie) in the lead, followed by Gasser and Nudge, then Max and Fang. Angel held my free hand and skipped the whole two blocks. We got to the school and I turned on autopilot to get to Ms. West's room.

"There you are, Jeff!" I heard her say.

I smiled, "I brought help."

There was a slight rusting of paper and a sigh from somewhere in the classroom.

"Hello?" I asked to the room.

"Oh, that's my sister, Paige," Ms West supplied.

I heard Paige get up and walk over. From the sound of her footsteps she must have been wearing some kind of boots.

"Hi. Don't you three go to Birch High? You're Max and Nick, right? And Monique?"

I heard her shake hands with Max. I held out my hand and she shook it. She had soft hands, but a firm grip. "I'm Iggy," I said with a smile.

She shook hands with the rest of the flock, except for Fang (because he's too cool, apparently). "I come over here to volunteer after school. I just help out my big sis most of the time."

Paige was really nice, but we had to go home. We said goodbye to her and Ms. West and we headed home, about a ten minute walk away. E each had armfuls of books along with our own stuff, and I held the books in my right arm while I held on to Lizzie with my left.

When we got home everyone dumped the books on the kitchen table.

"I'm going for a fly," Fang said. He left out the back door.

"Wow, Iggy, how do you read this stuff? It's, like, in a another language or something. There's so many dots, it must take forever to read. And there's not even any pictures! Well, I guess you wouldn't need any…" Nudge rambled on, so I tuned her out.

I unhooked Lizzie and hung her leash up. She happily went to the living room, most likely to take a nap in her doggie bed.

I took an armful of books and headed up to my room. Once I got all the books upstairs, I took off my boots and my leather jacket and put them in their place, stretched out my wings, and put in my headphones, setting my aviators on the nightstand.

Yes, I said wings. Did I forget to mention that the six of us are part bird? My bad.

I lay down on my stomach, closed my eyes, and let the sounds of a string quartet fill my ears. What? A teenager can't appreciate Mozart?

My wings relaxed after being held tight against my back all day, and my thoughts drifted to Paige. _I wonder what she looks like?_ I thought to myself.

A slight breeze stirred my feathers and I took out an ear bud. "Fang?"

"Yeah."

"What does Paige look like?"

"Why, you like her?" He had a mischievous tone.

"No! Ah, forget it." I stuffed the ear bud back in and closed my eyes again.

I must've fallen asleep, because I was rudely awoken by flying shoes.

"IGGY GET UP WE'RE HUNGRY!" Max yelled.

I groaned and turned off my iPod, and made my way downstairs. I was still groggy, so I missed the doorway to the kitchen. I made it in and started gathering ingredients, rubbing my tender nose.

After I boiled the pasta and heated up the sauce I mixed it into a bowl, stuck a spoon in it, and set it on the table. The flock had been drawn in by the smell of spaghetti and I could sense the staring a t the food. "Dig in guys."

In a matter of minutes every last red drop was nowhere to be seen. Somehow I convinced everyone to help with the dishes, and we went to watch some TV. Or, if you're me, listen to it.

Gazzy filled me in on some of the action going on in the show. There was something about spies, and at one point they were speaking Russian. Gazzy couldn't read the subtitles to me fast enough, so I just said "It's alright Gaz. I'm goin' up to the roof."

There was a pleasant breeze, and the moonlight glinted on my feathers as I lay sprawled out on the roof. Well, I didn't really know if the moon was out or not, but it was a beautiful night anyway. After a while I climbed back into my window and listened if Fang was in there. I heard him typing on his laptop on his bed, and I got changed and plopped onto mine. Lizzie, who had been waiting for me, hopped up and burrowed herself behind my knees. Almost immediately I blacked out. Get it? Yeah.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: The second chapter! Hooray! More A/N at the bottom.**

**(((wish I did, but I don't own ****Maximum Ride****, just this plot)))**

.. / .-.. ..- ...- / .. -. -. -.-

_I saw fog all around me, then it cleared to reveal gleaming chrome surfaces, and the smell of antiseptic permeated everything. I looked across the little room and saw Max, sleeping in her cage, like the one I was in. Fang was in a cage next to her, also asleep. It was just the three of us, then._

_The door banged open and I jumped. I shrank back in my cage, and I saw Max and Fang were now alert._

"_This one, grab it," a whitecoat with big glasses commanded another._

_The whitecoat came and opened my cage, and I tried my best to shrink back as far away as possible._

"_No!" Max screamed, "Don't hurt him! Take me instead!" That was probably where that cliché came from; Max always watching out for us, even then. I had only recently returned from a torturous experiment and was still far from recovery._

_I was yanked out of the cage by the whitecoat without glasses and I felt bruises forming on my arms as he held me in a vice-like grip. I was forced out of the holding room, listening to Max's anguished cries as dread built up in the pit of my stomach._

_We approached a door, and Glasses pushed it open. I hadn't been in this room before, but I noticed that something was very different about it compared to the other operating rooms. It still had your standard table and lights and machines for surgeries, but I kept staring at something on the far wall._

_It was a window._

_I could see the most stunning color ever out there, the same as the color as my eyes, which I had once glimpsed at when I saw my reflection in a scalpel._

_I didn't know the name of the color, and I didn't know what it was on the other side of the window that was so beautiful. All I knew was that it was out there, and I was in here. The School was all I ever saw._

_Another whitecoat prodded me forward, forcing me out of my trance. I noticed that the room was actually full of whitecoats, all with clipboards and pens, staring at me while I moved toward the table. I tried staring some down, but each one would just start writing something on their clipboard, un-phased. It was irritating._

_I hopped up onto the table, ready to be done with it. Whatever they had planned for me couldn't be as bad as what they'd put me through yesterday. Could it?_

"_Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," Glasses began._

_Assistant whitecoats, as if on cue, started hooking me up to machines. I complied, which was very unusual for me. The previous experiment had worn me out more than I thought._

"_I will be attempting today to augment the night vision of an avian hybrid, subject HS426A3. This surgery is experimental, so please, don't try this at home."_

_Chuckles floated around the room at that bit of humor._

_The assistants forced my eyes wide open and clipped something cold and metal to the lids to keep me from being able to close them. One whitecoat dropped liquid into my eyes, and I felt them instantly go dry. I watched helplessly as Glasses picked up a scalpel. I whimpered and squirmed, but I had been tied down. The sharp instrument began to strip away the layers of my eyeball…_

.. / .-.. ..- ...- / .. -. -. -.—

I woke with a sudden gasp, panting. My already quick heartbeat was going even faster; I wondered if it might burst. I sat up and cradled my head in my hands, trying to clear my mind of the horrible memory.

"The surgery?" I heard Fang ask me.

I nodded, my face still buried in my hands. "What time is it?"

I heard him almost silently walk toward my nightstand.

"According to your watch, it's dot past the dot."

I rolled my eyes and held my hand out toward him. He placed the watch in it and I felt the time.

4:22 AM. Dang.

I turned my head towards Fang, aiming my eyes to where his were, and furrowed my brow, "What are you doing up so early? Shouldn't you be dreaming about Max?"

"Couldn't sleep," was all he replied. Typical Fang, never much for conversation.

"Well, I guess I'll just get up. Hey, do you think you'll see Paige at school today?"

"It's Saturday, Ig."

"Oh, yeah. Never mind then. Well, I might as well do some reading."

Fang grunted in surprise when I ninja-leapt out of my bed and landed a few feet away with practiced ease, sticking the ground with not even the slightest bounce, holding my arms up above my head like Gazzy had described to me when we were watching the Olympics. I heard a groan from Lizzie, her comfortable spot on my bed disturbed. She trotted out of the room, a little unhappy.

Ignoring the lack of applause, I located my new mountain of books. Calculus? Nah. Physics? No thanks. History? Maybe.

I skimmed through the good parts, then tossed the book away with a sigh.

5:06 AM. Bleh.

I lay down on the floor a while, until the hair on the back of my neck prickled.

Someone was watching me.

.. / .-.. ..- ...- / .. -. -. -.—

**A/N: That was my version of how Iggy became blind, and his one and only glimpse at the sky! :'(**

**Sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger, but I'll try to get up the next chapter soon! There will be some romance in the next chapter, so don't worry!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I've decided that I'm probably not going to be updating every week… (I'm a little bit of a procrastinator)**

**If there's any questions about exactly how different this AU is, they'll hopefully be answered within the story.**

**I've sorta had pretty bad writer's block for about… two months? I have a veerrryy basic plot drawn out for the first eight chapters so far, but I just post what I have completed.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own this stuffs! But Paige and Lizzie are mine!**

.. / .-.. ..- ...- / .. -. -. -.-

I froze, trying not to let on to whoever was watching me that I knew they were there. I couldn't figure out which direction the person was, so I reached out with my mind, hoping Angel was awake.

_Angel, you up?_

_Yeah Ig, what's wrong?_

I realized I didn't feel anyone staring at me anymore.

_Iggy, _she told me, _whoever that was is gone now, I only barely caught any thoughts, and they were only focused on running away._

I scowled as I got up. _Curse these ruined eyes, _I mentally rambled. _If only I wasn't such an easy target for __**Stalkers**__, jeez. Who would want to spy on little ol' me? Had they seen my wings?!_

My inner monologue was interrupted by a rumble of hunger. I went through the hallway and down twenty-two carpeted stairs to the main floor. I headed toward the kitchen, but there was an obstacle in my way and I tripped, but I managed to land on the couch instead of the hardwood floor.

I stood up and went back to the scene of the crime to figure out what I'd tripped over. My probing fingers found a box full of smaller, book-sized boxes. What were these…? Oh, the Gasser must've left the Xbox games out. I searched for the vacant spot that the box usually occupied and replaced it, then finished my journey to the kitchen.

Being my lazy teenage self that morning, I only felt like cooking breakfast for one. I decided on fried eggs and toast, and I whipped them up perfectly.

As I enjoyed my masterfully prepared meal, I listened for what the rest of the Flock was doing. I could hear Gazzy snoring up in his room. The Nudge channel was silent, so I assumed she was still asleep, too. I heard someone thrashing around, probably Max having a nightmare. The thrashing stopped, and I heard Max and Fang softly talking to each other. Did I hear her… crying? Must've been a really bad one.

I heard Lizzie walk into the kitchen, claws tapping on the tile. She lay down against my leg, knowing that I was immune to puppy-dog eyes. I never gave her people-food anymore, but everyone else still did, so her little diet wasn't working and she was a bit fat.

I put my dishes in the sink; I wasn't in the mood to clean them. I went back to the living room, which we nick-named "the nest" (instead of the den, get it?), and sprawled out on the couch, my head tilted back to gaze at toward the ceiling. My thoughts drifted to the creeper from earlier, then I pushed the thoughts away and made a mental note to get some curtains.

Lizzie followed me and sat down right on top of my foot. I lifted my head and raised an eyebrow at her. She was a strange little dog.

Angel came down and plopped onto the couch next to me. She turned on the TV, and the sounds of some British show filled the room.

"Morning, kid," I told her, even though we'd already spoken mentally.

Angel let out a huge yawn and tried to respond to me, but she just sounded funny.

Lizzie interrupted the yawn by whining at Angel.

"Hello, Lizzie Bear! You just love to be pet, don't you?" the weight left my foot and Lizzie's tail created a breeze in response to the puppy-talk.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Umm…quarter 'til seven," Angel answered.

I groaned. "That's it? Man, I've been up too long."

Angel straightened up next to me, "I have an idea," she said, "Let's go to the park, to get Lizzie some exercise. Maybe she'll make some new friends?"

"Good idea. I need some air."

When we were ready to leave, Angel told Max where we were going (so she wouldn't freak out when she noticed we were gone) and we walked to the park, only a few minutes' walk away. We'd settled in a pretty small town, so everything was in walking distance, which reduced the risk of us being seen flying everywhere.

The park smelled like freshly cut grass and the air felt crisp with a slight breeze. I unhooked Lizzie and she trotted around excitedly. Angle had brought a tennis ball and she threw it, Lizzie eagerly sprinting to retrieve it. I found a nice shady spot on the side of a gentle hill and closed my eyes behind my aviators, listening to the sounds of the few other early risers.

"Look out!" a female voice yelled. I sat up, only to be hit on the forehead with a Frisbee. My sunglasses got knocked off, and I rubbed my possibly bruised face while a set of boots ran towards me.

"Jeez, it would've gone right over you if you'd just –oh wait, you're Iggy, right? We met yesterday! I'm so sorry about the Frisbee."

"Don't' worry about it, Paige," I gave her a crooked grin, trying to find her eyes.

She kneeled down next to me and gasped, "Oh no, I think it left a bruise!"

My grin widened mischievously, "Kiss it to make it better?"

"How about…not," she replied with a slight giggle.

I put on my saddest from and gazed toward the ground.

"Tell you what," she said. I wiped off the frown and looked up toward her, "How about you call me in case you feel the urge to sue me or something, kay?"

I snorted, "I'm not so sure that'll happen. The best lawyer I could get is an eleven-year-old with digestion issues."

Her chime-like giggles met my ears, and my smile muscles grew a mind of their own."Take this, have someone help you call me," she gently took my hand and put a piece of paper into it. Her hair swished as she looked behind her. "I have to go now; don't get his by anymore Frisbees." She leaned over and gave a tiny kiss to my bruised forehead. I touched the place her cool lips had touched me, and with a hasty goodbye she ran down the hill and somewhere out of earshot.

"Bye," I whispered. _Wow, what a sap! You probably have the dumbest expression on your face right now._

By then Angel had tired Lizzie out and they returned to where I was. I had a feeling that Angel was grinning, it would've been impossible for her to not know what had just happened.

The three of us went back home, Lizzie panting and me still stunned. We were greeted by an eager Nudge.

"Max said we're all going for a fly today! Omigosh, isn't that great? We haven't flown together in forever! We, like, never get to do this anymore! Why is that, anyway? We've been living here how long again? I don't even know. Why is Jeb never around anymore? Why did we leave the mountains? It's really way too hot out here for January, what's wrong with this state? Are you okay Iggy? You haven't shut me up yet."

"A girl gave him her number," Angel informed her, "She kissed him!"

The squeals of delight were too much, so I just went to my room to talk to Fang, hopefully he would give me some helpful brotherly advice and not be a total jerk.


End file.
